Capture the Flag
by Rae Kelly
Summary: Date: October 19th, 1899. Time: Dusk to Dawn. Brooklyn vs. Manhattan. The newsies play a little game of Capture the Flag.
1. Chapter 1

AN: This fic is a product of my imagination after being left in the dark for over an hour, by myself, defending the blue flag.

ALSO, in honor of my new friend Gabe. (who is much better looking than Gabe Damon!)

Spot walked into the main room of the Brooklyn LH dressed completely in black and holding more black clothing in his hands.  Rae looked up from the game of cards that she was playing with Duchess and Sippi.   "No! No! NO!" she said throwing down her cards.  "Last time you had those clothes out I nearly got arrested.  I'm not breaking into any more houses for you."

"What's the date today?" Spot asked.

"October 19th." She said sending him a confused glance.  "OH! Right!" she added, jumping up and grabbing the clothes from him.

"What's that all about?" Sippi asked as his girlfriend ran from the room.

"You'll see." Spot said, standing in front of the fireplace.  Duchess and Sippi exchanged confused glances as Blank, Secrets and Blade entered the room, all dressed in black.  Rae followed them in, now dressed in black, and knelt in front of Spot.  He handed her a small black cloth and she tied it over her auburn hair.  Blade draped a long black cloak over her shoulders and Spot nodded.  She stood, tying the ribbons.  Spot pulled the hood over her head and nodded again.  She turned and slipped from the building Blank and Secrets on her heels.  Spot turned back to Duchess and Sippi. "You'll find black clothes on your bunks.  Go get changed."

~*~*~*~

Stress and Hades were in the bunkroom of the Manhattan LH while most of the boys were downstairs playing poker.  The two girls were tired and had decided to go to sleep early.  They were lying in their respective bunks when Hades sat up suddenly. "It's October 19th." She said.

Stress rolled from her bunk and began looking for her shoes. "Do you think the boys remembered?" she asked.

"I doubt it.  Otherwise they wouldn't have planned that poker game." Hades answered, throwing a shoe at Stress.

Just as they got half-way down the stairs the front door opened and a dark, cloaked figure stepped in the door, flanked by two more figures dressed in black, with dark hats pulled low over their faces.  A hand came from under the cloak and pointed at Jack, speaking in a low, threatening voice.  "YOU have been chosen.  Your mission: Capture Brooklyn's flag before dawn while defending your own.  The first team to get the other teams flag back to the Brooklyn Bridge wins."  The cloaked figure turned suddenly and left the building, leaving a red cloth where it had stood.


	2. Chapter 2

"Spot, will you please explain what's going on?" Duchess asked, walking back into the main room of the Brooklyn LH, wearing the black clothes he had given her.

"Just a little tradition we have around her." he answered.

"Spot, answer the girl." Sippi growled as he entered the room.

"For as long as I can remember on October 19th every year the Brooklyn newsies have challenged the Manhattan newsies to a game of capture the flag. The championship has gone back and forth between Brooklyn and Manhattan every year. Brooklyn won last year, but I'm determined that Brooklyn will win again this year."

"What do we get if we win?" Sippi asked.

"Winner considers the Bridge their selling territory for the next year. It's also for bragging rights. No one has ever won two years in a row."

"So what do we do?" Duchess asked.

"Wait for Rae to get back."

"And then..."

"And then we make our plans for the evening. With any luck the Manhattan boys had forgotten completely about it."

"They did." Rae said from the door. She took the cloak off and threw it across a chair. "I think Hades and Stress had just remembered and were coming to remind them when I walked in."

"Good. That means they will spend at least an hour trying to decide where to hide their flag. Bookworm, come here." Spot ordered. 

A young girl sitting in the corner of the room reading a book, stood and walked over to him. "Yeah Spot?" she asked. 

"You are guarding the flag tonight." 

"Yes, sir." she said with a mock salute. "Where is the flag to be hidden?" 

Spot looked at Rae. "I know. I know." Rae said rolling her eyes. She turned away from them and unbuttoned her shirt, revealing a sleeveless black undershirt. She slipped the long sleeved one off and held out her left arm to Spot. He pulled a blue cloth from his pocket and tied it around her arm. She slipped her shirt back on and quickly buttoned it. "This is where it stays for now. Duch, Sippi, you two don't worry about getting our flag. Just get theirs." Duchess and Sippi nodded. "Ready, BW?" Rae asked. The younger girl nodded and they slipped out of the building into the shadows.

"What is she doing with the flag?" Duchess asked.

"You'll see."

~*~*~*~

"What was that all about?" David asked when the door closed behind the three dark figures.

"Tradition. Every year Brooklyn challenges Manhattan to a game of capture the flag." Stress explained, picking up the red cloth that had been dropped.

Jack looked around. "Blink, you, Race, Pie Eater and Snoddy go start watching. If I know Brooklyn, they'll be over here trying to get our flag before we have a chance to hide it." The four boys stood and left the building.

"Where are we going to hide it?" Hades asked.

"Let's not hide it." Stress suggested.

"Have you gone mad?"

"I'm serious. Let's tack it to the wall there above the fireplace and just sit here and wait for them."

"I'm not sure I follow you Stress." Hades, sending her friend a 'you've lost it!' look.

"I do and it makes perfect sense." David said. "They won't try to take it with us sitting right here in the room."

"But some of us need to go find they're flag." Jack said. "Mush, Hades, Stress, Fearless, and David stay here. The rest of us will go find the flag."


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Alright people...here it is...the next chapter of my lovely fic…Thanks to my playing Capture the Flag this past weekend, I finally have more inspiration!!!

Destria: I haven't had a chance to update the Brooklyn Bridge Girls lodging house in a while…patience please

Stressica: I wouldn't be so sure about that!

Misprint: Just wait until you see what she does with the flag!

Chapter 3:

Rae crept silently along the streets of Manhattan.  Listening carefully, she could hear Jack's heavy footsteps about a block behind her. She kept walking, just waiting for him to come and tag her.  

Her patience finally paid off and Jack grabbed her arm. "Going somewhere, Kelly?" ((AN: Sorry, I couldn't resist!))

"Just looking for a little red flag, Jack. Seen it around anywhere?" she asked with a smirk.

"Cut it out, Rae.  Let's go back to the lodging house."

~*~

Spot sat on the roof of the Manhattan lodging house with Duchess and Sippi.  "Get comfortable, you two.  We'll be here for a while."

"Why are we just sitting here?" Sippi asked. "Shouldn't we be out there looking for their flag?"

"We're waiting on Rae," was all Spot would say.

"What's the rope for?" Duchess asked.

"You'll see."

~*~

Rae walked into the spare room of the Manhattan lodging house, David close on her heels.  He shut the door and pulled a chair over next to it and sat down.

Rae walked over to the window and wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to ward off a chill.  "You know why Jack left you here to guard me, don't you?"

"He told me not to listen to any of your bull," David answered.

"That hurt's Davey.  That really hurts."

"I'm not the one who said it."

Rae grunted and stood at the window for several more minutes, before she spoke again.  "Davey…" she sang softly.

"What?"

She turned and walked toward him.  "You don't have a girlfriend do you?"

"Thanks for reminding me."

She took his hands and pulled him to his feet.  She ran her hands down the edge of his vest. "Sippi broke up with me yesterday," she said sadly.

"He did?!?"

She nodded as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey, now," he whispered, pulling her into his arms. "Don't cry. Everything will be fine."

They stood there for several minutes before a knock sounded on the window.  "Sorry, Dave," Rae whispered, throwing a powerful right hook.  She hit him with enough force to send him falling to the floor.  Before he could make a move to get up, she was kneeling next to him and tying his hands behind his back.  She pulled a cloth from her pocket and gagged him as well.

She walked over to the window and opened it. "Took you long enough, Spot," she fussed at the person outside the window.

"I can always leave you here," he threatened.

"And I could always cut that rope and let you fall."

~*~

Ten minutes later Jack opened the door to the spare room, Bookworm by his side.  He took one look at David and shook his head, before going to untie his friend. "I should have known better than to leave you with Rae."

"She hits hard," David said, holding his aching head.  Bookworm snickered and David glared at her.

"Think you can watch this one?" Jack asked.

"Don't worry about me, Jack. It's past my bedtime," Bookworm said, curling up on the single bunk in the room.

David sat back down in the chair by the door and glared at Jack as he left the room.

~*~

"Where is the flag?" Spot asked Rae once they were on the roof.

"In the main room on the wall," she answered, rubbing her sore knuckles. "David Jacobs has a hard head."

Spot snickered. "Why in the world would they leave it there? It would be too easy for us to get."

"Not with four people sitting right in front of it."

"Who else in the house?"

"Just David."

"If we could get David over to Manhattan, we could win this thing."

"Why David?" Duchess asked.

Rae and Spot merely looked and each other and shared a secret smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Blink and Race slipped out of the Brooklyn lodging house and into an alley across the street where Snipes was waiting for them.  "Did you find it?" he asked.

Race shook his head, while Blink answered. "We searched everywhere…it's not there."

"Where else would they hide it?" Snipes asked.

"Well…" Race said. "Three years ago Skittery had become a newsie at the end of September…they somehow hid it in his pocket…and he didn't even know it."

"You don't think they'd do it again, do you?" Snipes asked.

"Skittery wouldn't let that happen to him again."

"But David would!" Blink said, running toward the Bridge.

~*~

Spot, Duchess and David watched from an alley as Blink, Snipes and Race ran by on their way to the Bridge.  "I think they figured it out," Spot muttered, pulling David, who was gagged again, to his feet.  "Let's go."

"What did they figure out?" Duchess asked as they walked toward the lodging house.

"I'll tell you later.  We have to get David to the lodging house and get back across the Bridge before Jack and the others get back."

"I'm so confused."

~*~

Blink, Race and Snipes raced into the Manhattan lodging house.  "They did it again!" Blink yelled.

Stress jumped to her feet. "Did what?"

"David has their flag!" Snipes said.

"That's impossible. He's upstairs guarding the prisoner."  Fearless said.

"Who?" Blink asked.

"Well, he let Rae escape…but Book is up there now."

Hades dashed up the stairs and returned a moment later. "He's gone!"

"Where would they take him?" Snipes asked.

"Brooklyn!" Stress, Hades and Blink yelled.

~*~

Rae, Book, Sippi and Blank stood in the shadows on the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge.  "Is that everyone, Book?" Blank asked.

"Yeah…they didn't leave anyone to guard their flag," she responded.

"Good," Rae said. "As soon as Spot and Duchess get here, we'll go get their flag."

"We're here. Let's go," Spot replyed.


	5. Chapter 5

Jack stopped just outside the Brooklyn lodging house and looked at the group of Manhattan newsies skidding to a halt beside him. "Who is guarding our flag?" he asked.  
  
He had to put his hands over his ear to block out the noise of everyone saying that they thought that someone else had stayed.  
  
Stress whistled loudly and everyone fell silent. "Blink, Race.go back and guard the flag." The two boys took off running.  
  
Rolling his eyes, Jack rushed through the door, followed by several others. David sat in the middle of the main room tied to a chair.  
  
"This isn't funny anymore, Jack," he said.  
  
Stress ignored him and began searching the pockets on his vest.  
  
"What are you doing?" he demanded. "What is that?" he asked when she pulled a blue piece of cloth out of the inside pocket.  
  
"The flag!" she yelled, jumping to her feet.  
  
"Let's go," Jack said, snatching the flag from her and dashing out the door. Once again the entire group was close on his heels.  
  
"JACK!" David yelled. "Come on guys! This really isn't funny!"  
  
~*~  
  
"This is too easy," Spot said as they walked into the Manhattan lodging house.  
  
"I told you," Rae retorted, reaching for the flag.  
  
Spot reached for it at the exact same time and the flag ripped in two. "Now look what you did Rae!"  
  
"What I did?" she sputtered. "I was trying to get it! I didn't need your help!"  
  
Blank whistled loudly and they stopped arguing. "I'd love to stay and listen to you two sort this out, but we need to hurry."  
  
Glancing at each other, Rae and Spot dashed out the door and ran toward the Bridge, each holding a piece of the flag.  
  
THE END!  
  
AN: I know.I know.I didn't say who won..but that's because I never could decide who won..so I decided to leave it up to the reader's imagination. 


End file.
